DISCKIMINATION. 288 DISEASE. spcctiou in language, as he is also taught to introspect ; ami the intereomparison of results vlii(.'h the experimental method secure-, must ex- tend to form as well as to contents. Consult: Fechner. l-Uciiicntc der l'si/chui)hysik (Leipzig. 1SS9) ; Wundt, Orundxiiyv <'<'■ physioloyischcn l'sychologic_ (Leipzig, 1S93) ; id.. Oiillims of Psyrholotjii, trans, hy .Judd (London. 1898) ; Kiielpe. thillhics of Psychology (London, 1895). DIS'CUS (Lat., from Gk. S/(J«of, diskos, disk) THROWING. An athletic sport. Originally, a circular piece of stone (sometimes metal) ahout twelve inches in diameter, which the dis- cobolus ( Gk. S/CKo <4/.()f ) or thrower of the discus in the ancient Greek games pitched from a fixed mark to the greatest possible distance; the competition of rival athletes constituting the game. Discus-throwing was one of the live exer- cises of the pentathlon. In the modern game, as ])layed in America and England, the discus weighs four pounds and seven ounces, and is thrown from a box nine feet sipiare — the throw being measured at riglit angles from the front of the box. When the throw is at either side, it is measured from n line jtrojeeting from the front line. No part of the person of the competitor is allowed to toucli the outside of the square, but the contestant may assume any position in tlirowing. DISEASE, diz-cz'. Any departure from, failure in. or perversion of normal pliysiological action in the material constitution or functional integrity of the living organism ( Foster's Medi- cal IJiclioiiary) . Practically, a disease is a par- ticular condition of ill health dependent upon some cause other than normal decay from age. Convenient, though not strictly scientific, is the division of diseases into functional and organic. A disease is organic if a certain organ is all'ectcd by it, changes occurring in the tissues. In a functional disease the organ in question does not properly perform its functions, but is itself in- tact: properly, the disease exists elsewhere than in that organ, the organ being disordered as a reflex result of distant changes. Diseases are termed diathetie when dependent upon a pre- disposition or diathesis (q.v.) ; they are termed enthetic when arising from external cau-^es en- tirely. Many diseases arising from the entrance and growth of bacteria from without are called genu diseases. Autogenous diseases are those caused by altered activity of the cells of the body. This altered ftinetion may be due to the action of bacteria, which are naturally found in the liody. as in the digestive tract. The retention of firces in the intestine, or of uric acid in the blood, or of peptones and albumoses in the blood. cau*e disease from the generation of poisonous alkaloids termed leucomaines. See B.cteria ; Disease Germ, Tiikory of; Medicine; Distribi'- TioN OF Diseases. Feigning of Disease. This is much practiced in the army and navy, and by convicts and others anxious to escape from discipline, or procure a discharge from compulsory service. It is also practiced by unfortunates who want to rest in hospitals during the winter, or by impostors who seek to gain money by arousing sympathy. It is technically called maliugcrinfi. The detection of feigneil disease, of course, necessarily belongs tn the educated physician, and is impossible with- out a thorough knowledge of the reality, unless. indeed, the imitation be very coarse and badly studied. The diseases most commouly simulated are epilej)sy, catalepsy, convulsions, blindness, deafness, paralysis, insanity, neuralgia, rheu- matism, disease of the heart, and generally all disorders which may exist without leading to any distinct external appearances. Ulcers of the legs, however, have often been made, and kept open artilicially through the a]>plication of irritant substances, and vomiting or coughing uji of blood is very easily simulated. The detection of such impostures is easy or not according to the op- portunities and knowledge and skill of the de- ceiver, as compared with those brought to bear on the discovery of the fraud. Careful testing is always necessary, as well as observation of the patient when he is unconscious of it. The medicolegal imiiortance of this subject is de- cided. Many actions are brought against rail- road companies to recover damages for alleged injuries resulting in nervous diseases. It rests with the neurologist to decide if such diseases exist, and none but an expert can determine the truth. The questions then arise whether the nervous disease existed before the injury, or whether it was aggravated by the injury so as to incapacitate the patient, or whether it has ap- peared since the injury and is due to a subse- quent cause. For a consideration of the whole question and an account of a celebrated family of malingerers, consult Bailey, Accident and Injury (.New York, 1898). DISEASE, t;En.t Theory of. The theory that several enthetic diseases are caused by entrance into the body of germs of a vegetable nature, which during their growth produce chemical changes and give rise to chemical prod- ucts. These chemical jiroducts, like other poi- sons, alter functions, disturb the processes of nutrition and rcjiair, and cause disease. The germ theory, in a less accurate form, was pro- posed by a few investigators as early as the seventeenth century. (See Bacteria.) Van Leeuwenhoek's discovery and description of the micro-organisms which his imperfect optical in- struments brought into view interested Lange and llauptmann. who theorized at once on the important rule the miscalled "animalcules' niifiht play in the production of disease, .moiig the maladies which they considered to be ])robably due to eoiilayium animatum were epilepsy, gout, pleu- risy, typhus fever, measles, smallpox, and puerperal fever. In 1701 Andry and Linn^ announced that syphilis has a similar origin. Lancisi, in 1718, made a parallel claim for malaria. Following these most valuable deduc- tions and theories came the imblication, in 17C2, of the results of the investigations and deduc- tions of .Vntoiiius Plenciz, a Viennese physician, who declared that all infectious diseases were caused by micro-organisms, and that the infective material consisted of either minute living ani- mals or plants, letting a flood of light upon the whole suliject through these brilliant discoveries of the truth. He stated his belief that dilTerences in the length of the period of incubation of dis- eases were due to difTerences in the time of development of special germs, as they multiplied in the body. He suggested the conveyance of germs through the air. He made original investigations into the nature of the processes of putrefaction and fermentation, and stated as a conclusion reached by his deductions, that such processes re-
